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Deborah Kemler Nelson

Centennial Chair Emerita

Emeritus Psychology

Contact

  1. Email:dkemler1@swarthmore.edu
  2. Phone: (610) 328-8432
  3. Off Campus
Deborah G. Kemler Nelson

Professional Activities | Publications | Courses & Seminars


Professional Activities

Professional Memberships
Rank Title Period
Member Editorial Board, Child Development 2001-2008
Member Editorial Board, Developmental Psychology 2000-2004
Member Editorial Board, Cognition 1986-1999
Member Committee of Examiners, GRE in Psychology, Educational Testing Service 1986-1994
Member Advisory Board for the Tel-Aviv University Unit of Human Development and Education 1986-
Member Member of Panel in Psychology, National Science Foundation, Graduate Fellowship Awards, National Research Council 1986
Member Advisory Panel, Young Investigator Awards 1984, 1988, 1992, 1994
Member National Science Foundation Research Grant Panel, Section on Memory and Cognitive Processes 1980-1983
Member American Association of University Professors  
Member Jean Piaget Society  
Member Sigma Xi  
Member Society for Research in Child Development  
Member American Association of University Women  
Member American Psychological Society  

 

Fellowships
Fellowship Name Period
Michener Faculty Fellowship 2006-07
Lindback Distinguished Teaching Award 2002
Mellon Tri-College Fellowship 2001
Lang Faculty Fellow, Swarthmore College 1982-83, 1990-91
National Science Foundation Predoctoral Fellow 1967-71
Honorary Woodrow Wilson Fellow 1967-68

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Publications

(*Swarthmore College student)

Kemler Nelson, D. G., *O"Neil, K.A., & *Asher. Y.M. (2008). A mutually facilitative relationship between learning names and learning concepts in preschool children. Journal of Cognition and Development, 9. 171-193.

*Asher, Y., & Kemler Nelson, D. G. (2008). Was it designed to do that? Children's focus on intended function in their conceptualization of artifacts. Cognition, 106, 474-483.

Greif, M. L., Kemler Nelson, D. G., Keil, F. C., & Gutierrez, F. (2006). What do children want to know about animals and artifacts? Domain-specific requests for information. Psychological Science, 17, 455-459.

Kemler Nelson, D. G., & *O'Neil, K. (2005). How do parents respond to children's questions about the identity of artifacts? Developmental Science, 8, 519-524.

Soderstrom, M., Kemler Nelson, D. G., & Jusczyk, P. W. (2004). Six-month-olds recognize clauses embedded in different passages of fluent speech. Infant Behavior and Development, 28, 87-94.

Kemler Nelson, D. G., *Holt, M. B., & *Egan, L. C. (2004). Two- and three-year-olds infer and reason about design intentions in order to categorize broken objects. Developmental Science, 7. 543-549..

Kemler Nelson, D. G., *Egan, L. C., & *Holt, M. (2004). When children ask What is it? What do they want to know about artifacts? Psychological Science, 15, 384-389.

Kemler Nelson, D. G., *Herron, L.,, & *Holt, M. (2003). The sources of young children's name innovations for novel artifacts. Journal of Child Language, 30, 823-843.

Soderstrom, M., Seidl, A., Kemler Nelson, D. G., & Jusczyk, P. W. (2003). The prosodic bootstrapping of phrases: Evidence from prelinguistic infants. Journal of Memory and Language, 49, 249-267.

Kemler Nelson, D. G., *Herron, L., & *Morris, C. (2002). How children and adults name broken objects: Inferences and reasoning about design intentions in the categorization of artifacts. Journal of Cognition and Development,3, 301-332.

Kemler Nelson, D. G., *Frankenfield, A., *Morris, C., & *Blair, E. (2000). Young children's use of functional information to categorize artifacts: three factors that matter. Cognition, 77, 133-168.

Kemler Nelson, D. G., *Russell, R., *Duke, N., & *Jones, K. (2000). Two-year-olds will name artifacts by their functions. Child Development,71, 1271-1288.

Nazzi, T., Kemler Nelson, D. G., Jusczyk, P. W., & Jusczyk, A. M. (2000). Six-month-olds' detection of clauses embedded in continuous speech: Effects of prosodic well-formedness. Infancy, 1, 123-147.

Kemler Nelson, D. G. (1999). Attention to functional properties in toddlers' naming and problem-solving. Cognitive Development, 14, 77-100.

Kemler Nelson, D. G. (1996). Cognitive development meets discrimination learning (book review). Contemporary Psychology, 41, 1109-1110).

Mandel, D. R., Kemler Nelson, D. G., & Jusczyk, P. W. (1996). Infants remember the order of words in a spoken sentence. Cognitive Development, 11, 181-196.

Myers, J., Jusczyk, P. W., Kemler Nelson, D. G., Charles-Luce, J., Woodward, A. L., & Hirsh-Pasek, K. (1996). Infants' sensitivity to word boundaries in fluent speech. Journal of Child Language, 23, 1-30.

Jusczyk, P.W. & Kemler Nelson, D.G. (1996). Syntactic units, prosody, and psychological reality during infancy. In J. L. Morgan & K. Demuth (Eds.), Signal to syntax (pp. 389-408). Hillsdale, N.J.: Erlbaum.

Kemler Nelson, D. G., & 11 Swarthmore College students (1995). Principle-based inferences in young children's categorization: Revisiting the impact of function on the naming of artifacts. Cognitive Development, 10, 347-380.

Mandel, D. R., Jusczyk, P. W., & Kemler Nelson, D. G. (1995). Does sentential prosody help infants organize and remember speech information? Cognition, 53, 155-180.

Kemler Nelson, D. G., Jusczyk, P.W., Mandel, D. R., Myers, J., Turk, A., & Gerken, L. (1995). The headturn preference procedure for testing auditory perception. Infant Behavior and Development, 18,111-116.

Smith, J.D., Kemler Nelson, D. G, Grohskopf, L.A., & Appleton, T. (1994). What child is this? What interval was that? Familiar tunes and music perception in novice listeners. Cognition, 52, 23-54.

Kemler Nelson, D.G. (1993). Processing integral dimensions: The whole view. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 19, 1105-1113.

Trope, I., Rozin, P., Kemler Nelson, D., & Gur, R.C. (1992). Information processing in the separated hemispheres of callostomy patients: Does the analytic-holistic dichotomy hold? Brain and Cognition, 19, 123-147.

Jusczyk, P.W., Hirsh-Pasek, K., Kemler Nelson, D.G., Kennedy, L., Woodward, A., & Piwoz, J. (1992). Perception of acoustic correlates of major phrasal units by young infants. Cognitive Psychology, 24, 252-293.

Kemler Nelson, D.G. (1990). When experimental findings conflict with everday observations: Reflections on children's category learning. Child Development, 61, 606-610.

Kemler Nelson, D.G. & Smith, J.D. (1989). Holistic and analytic processing in reflection-impulsivity and cognitive development. In T. Globerson & T. Zelniker (Eds.), Cognitive Style and Cognitive Development (pp. 116-140). Norwood, NJ: Ablex.

Kemler Nelson, D.G., Hirsh-Pasek, K., Jusczyk, P.W. & Cassidy, K.W. (1989). How the prosodic cues in motherese might assist language learning. Journal of Child Language, 16, 55-68.

Kemler Nelson, D.G. (1989). The nature and occurrence of holistic processing. In B.E. Shepp & S. Ballesteros (Eds.), Object Perception: Structure and Process (pp. pp. 357-386). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Kemler Nelson, D.G. (1988). Naturaleza y occurencia del procesamiento holistico. In J.L.F. Trespalacios, B.E. Shepp, & S. Ballesteros (Eds.), Percepcion del objecto: Estructura y procesos (pp. 323-370). Madrid, Spain: Universidad Nacional de Education a Distancia.

Smith, J.D. & Kemler Nelson, D.G. (1988). Is the more impulsive child a more holistic processor? A reconsideration. Child Development, 59 , 719-727.

Kemler Nelson, D.G. (1988). When category learning is holistic: A reply to Ward and Scott. Memory and Cognition, 16, 79-84.

Grau, J.W. & Kemler Nelson, D.G. (1988). The distinction between integral and separable dimensions: Evidence for the integrality of pitch and loudness. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 117, 347-370.

Hirsh-Pasek, K., Kemler Nelson, D.G., Jusczyk, P.W., Cassidy, K. W., Druss, B. & Kennedy, L. (1987). Clauses are perceptual units for young infants. Cognition, 26, 269-286.

Kemler Nelson, D.G. (1984). The effect of intention on what concepts are acquired. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, 23, 734-759.

Smith, J.D. & Kemler Nelson, D.G. (1984). Overall similarity in adults' classification: The child in all of us. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 113, 137-159.

Foard, C.F. & Kemler Nelson, D.G. (1984). Holistic and analytic modes of processing: The multiple determinants of perceptual analysis. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 113, 137-159.

Kemler, D.G. (1983). Exploring and reexploring issues of integrality, perceptual sensitivity, and dimensional salience. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 36, 365-379.

Kemler, D.G. (1983). Holistic and analytic modes in perceptual and cognitive development. In T. Tighe & B.E. Shepp (Eds.), Perception, Cognition, and Development: Interactional Analyses (pp. 77-102). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Kemler, D.G. (1982). The ability for dimensional analysis in preschool and retarded children: Evidence from comparison, conservation, and prediction tasks. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 34, 469-489.

Kemler, D.G. (1982). Classification in young and retarded children: The primacy of overall similarity relations. Child Development, 53, 768-779.

Kemler, D.G. (1982). Cognitive development in the school years: Foundations and directions. In J. Worrell (Ed.), Psychological Development in the Elementary School Years (pp. 233-268). New York: Academic Press.

Kemler, D.G. (1981). New issues in the study of infant categorization: A reply to Husaim and Cohen. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 27, 457-463.

Reisberg, D., Baron, J. & Kemler, D.G. (1980). Overcoming Stroop interference: The effects of practice on distractor potency. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 6, 140-150.

Kemler, D.G. & Smith, L.B. (1979). Accessing similarity and dimensional relations: The effects of integrality and separability on the discovery of complex concepts. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 108, 133-150.

Smith, L.B. & Kemler, D.G. (1978). Levels of experienced dimensionality in children and adults. Cognitive Psychology, 10, 502-532.

Kemler, D.G. (1978). Patterns of hypothesis testing in children's discriminative learning: A study of the development of problem-solving strategies. Developmental Psychology, 14, 653-673.

Kemler, D.G. & Smith, L.B. (1978). Is there a developmental trend from integrality to separability in perception? Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 26, 498-507.

Smith, L.B. & Kemler, D.G. (1977). Developmental trends in free classification: Evidence for a new conceptualization of perceptual development. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 24, 279-298.

Kemler, D.G., Shepp, B.E. & Foote, K.E. (1976). The sources of developmental differences in children's incidental processing during discrimination trials. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 21, 226-240.

Smith, L.B., Kemler, D.G. & Aronfreed, J. (1975). Developmental trends in voluntary selective attention: Differential effects of source distinctness. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 20, 352-362.

Kemler, D.G. & Jusczyk, P.W. (1975). A developmental study of facilitation by mnemonic instruction. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 20, 400-410.

Jusczyk, P.W., Kemler, D.G. & Bubis, E.A. (1975). A developmental comparison of two types of visual mnemonics. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology,20, 327-340.

Anderson, D.R., Kemler, D.G. & Shepp, B.E. (1973). Selective attention and dimensional learning: A logical analysis of two-stage attentional theories. Bulletin of the Psychonomic Society, 2, 272-275.

Shepp, B.E., Kemler, D.G. & Anderson, D.R. (1972). Selective attention and the breadth of learning: An extension of the one-look model. Psychological Review, 79, 317-328.

Kemler, D.G. & Anderson, D.R. (1972). The breadth of attention in learning: A new one-look model. British Journal of Mathematical and Statistical Psychology, 25, 131-150.

Kemler, D.G. & Shepp, B.E. (1971). The learning and transfer of dimensional relevance and irrelevance in children. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 89, 120-127.

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Conference Presentations

Conceptual information about artifacts facilitates young children's name learning (April, 2007). Meetings of the Society for Research in Child Development, Boston, MA. (with K. O'Neil)

Children's focus on intended function in their conceptualization of artifacts (April, 2007). Meetings of the Society for Research in Child Development, Boston, MA. (with Y. Asher)

Object naming in children with autism spectrum disorders (April, 2005). Meetings of the Society for Research in Child Development, Atlanta, GA. (with K. Wright Cassidy and J. James)

What do children want to know about animals and arifacts? (April, 2005). Meetings of the Society for Research in Child Development, Atlanta, GA. (with M. Greif, F. Guitierrez, and F. Keil)

Do young children invent function-based names for novel artifacts? (April, 2003). Meetings of the Society for Research in Child Development, Tampa, FL. (with L. Herron and M. Holt)

The beginning of cross-sentence structural comparison by 9-month-olds (April, 2002). International Conference on Infant Studies, Toronto, ON. (with Peter Jusczyk and LouAnn Gerken)

How children and adults name damaged objects: Sensitivity to designers' intentions (April, 2001). Meetings of the Society for Research in Child Development, Minneapolis, MI. (with L. Herron and C. Morris)

When young children name artifacts by their functions: Effects of the plausibility of structure/function relations (November, 1999). Boston University Conference on Language Development, Boston, MA. (with E. Blair)

Evidence of use of phrasal packaging by English-learning 9-month-olds (November, 1999). Boston University Conference on Language Development, Boston, MA. (with M. Soderstrom and P. Jusczyk)

Attention to functional properties in young children's naming: Reflexive or reflective? (April, 1999). Meetings of the Society for Research in Child Development, Albuquerque, NM. (with C. Morris and A. Frankenfield)

How naming affects the categorization of functional artifacts by young children (April, 1999). Meetings of the Society for Research in Child Development, Alburqurque, NM. (with A. Frankenfield, E. Rosenbaum, and A. Moghbeli)

The common-function principle in two-year-olds' naming of artifacts (1997). Meetings of the Society for Research in Child Development, Washington, D.C.

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Courses & Seminars

Courses
Number Title When Description
Psychology 5 Nature and Nurture Fall 1999 Catalog Description
Psychology 39 Developmental Psychology - Catalog Description
Psychology 42 Human Intelligence - Catalog Description
Seminars
Psychology 139 Developmental Psychology - Catalog Description

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